On the road: Astra 1.6 Turbo SRi

Friday 5 March 2010 19.10 EST
First published on Friday 5 March 2010 19.10 EST

There are cars that set the heart racing, the spine tingling and the mouth watering. And then there is the Vauxhall Astra. Say what you like about the Astra, but no one has ever required cardiac assistance simply as a result of driving one, much less looking at one.

Were human guinea pigs rigged up in a laboratory to a battery of biological sensors, we can be confident that if presented with an Astra, not a flicker would register on their polygraphs.

But it would be wrong to describe an Astra as dull. It lacks that kind of defining character. Perhaps neutral would be a better word, or harmless. It's the beige of the car world, the Dermot O'Leary of hatchbacks.

Or it was. With the latest incarnation, Vauxhall has set out to make a statement. It's decided to make the Astra more visible to the naked eye.

Has it broken the mould of indistinctiveness? I have a reliable test for this particular quality. It involves walking out into the street, after a car has been delivered, and trying to discern if there's anything different about the surroundings. If I notice that a new car has arrived, this is a sign that it hasn't faded into the background like a dead leaf in the gutter.

The new Astra passed this punishing test with, if not distinction, then at least a pass. The bonnet is longer and the boot more curved, lending a slightly more sportyish feel to the car. And the rear lights are a bit more contoured. OK, it's not exactly a radical makeover. It doesn't suddenly look like a DeLorean. But it is an improvement.

Inside the car has also made a conspicuous journey upmarket, having gained several parts from its plusher stable mate, the Insignia. It's comfortable, if a bit relentlessly grey in colour, but then at an on-the-road price of 21 grand for the turbo version, it should be comfortable. In fact, at that money, you'd sort of like a foot massager and a fold-out bed.

Instead, you get the turbo engine, which is lively around town but not horse-frightening. Top speed is supposedly 138mph, but I suspect that may involve a Himalayan descent and a tail wind. I floored the pedal a couple of times and the response I got was not what you'd call responsive. So it's not a genuine speed machine. Instead it's more like an effort to squeeze some saloon trimmings and performance into the more modest setting of a hatchback.

And in this respect, the Astra works. It's well suited to people who can't make up their mind if they want to go downmarket executive or premium economy. It's a car that's perfectly poised to take the middle way. There you have it, the new Astra: it's not boring, it's a compromise.